"Underdog" role doesn't bother Irish ahead of Frozen Four

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CHICAGO, Ill. -

Notre Dame Hockey is playing some of its best hockey of the season at the right time. But even with that momentum, many are picking the Irish as underdogs in the Frozen Four.

Once again, Notre Dame Hockey finds itself at the Frozen Four and like in past years, the Irish come in as one of the lowest seeds in the field.

Notre Dame has been playing that role of underdog the last couple of months, really needing every game to get them to Chicago.

But coaches and players say they’re not bothered by that “underdog” role. Instead, they’re embracing it.

“The pressure is kind of off I feel like for us, you know we’re getting here, we’re happy to be here, we’re kind of able to go in and play with confidence and play with free, you know I think that’s going to be the best part of it all,” said Cal Peterson, Notre Dame Junior Goaltender.

Head Coach Jeff Jackson added, “Hey, I want these guys, hey I want to win. We’re not happy just to be here. We want to win a national championship, but the thing is I also want them to enjoy the ride and to enjoy the experience.”

“Four seed at the regional and the bottom seed here too, you know confidence is huge and you know we’ve kind of been preaching about having that swagger, that Notre Dame swagger, not cocky, but confident,” said Anders Bjork, Notre Dame Junior Forward.

“We love the underdog role, we’ve kind of been talking about that going into the tournament, kind of not feeling any pressure just going out there trying to play as hard as we can and execute our game plan, we know they’re a really good team, they have a lot of skill but we feel if we keep playing the way we’re playing we can have some success,” commented Jordan Gross, Notre Dame Sophomore Defenseman.

The Irish will have to continue to embrace that underdog role.

Their opponent Thursday, the number one seeded Denver Pioneers, a team looking for its own redemption after getting knocked out in the Frozen a year ago.